Crossover day has come and gone: day 30 of the 2010 General Assembly Session. The term "Crossover Day" stems from being the last day the House or Senate can approve a bill and have the other legislative body pass it during this session. It is historically a very hectic and chaotic day from beginning to end. We started at 9:00 a.m. and went to midnight with a few breaks for meals.

In preparation for the day, Jan Jones (R-Milton) was able to have HR 21, which calls for a constitutional amendment allowing for the creation of Milton County, reported out of Rules Committee for consideration by the House. As a constitutional amendment, this was not for the actual creation of Milton County, but to allow the voters of what once was the general boundary of old Milton to decide by referendum to re-establish the former county.

MILTON COUNTY - OH, SO CLOSE

As it was a constitutional amendment, it required two-thirds of the total members of the House to approve it: 120 members. A daunting task for an initiative that has become so controversial in Fulton County. Nevertheless, all elected officials of North Fulton spent much of the day seeking support from our colleagues, knowing without sufficient numbers, we would not have this measure come up for a vote.

Bottom line: we came within a handful of the votes necessary for passage. But this is tremendous progress over the few years this measure has been the House with its first filing, then getting it through a committee last year, through Rules this year and now to the floor for a possible vote by the entire House.  With Jones' tremendous talents and leadership, I fully expect to see this constitutional amendment on the general election ballot in 2012, the next time it can be considered by Georgia voters. 

 
To coin a phrase by legendary NFL head football coach O.A. "Bum" Phillips: "Last year we came to the door, this year we knocked on the door -- next year we'll kick the door in!"

GOON TO BE

Some good -- and some not so good -- bills passed through the House this past week. One good measure was HB 1139, which requires the county taxing authority to notify property owners each year of the value of their property, and give them the right to file an appeal by checking off on the tax statement when sending in the payment. With the changes taking place in the economy over the last few years, we find many people not being aware of how the values of their homes have dropped and are being over taxed, not knowing how, or when, to file a challenge to the valuation. This should give homeowners a means to get their home taxes lowered.

We took steps this week to increase flexibility for public programs to receive private donations and federal grant funding through the passage of House Bills 1200, 1310, and 1199.  Each of these bills helps state programs give high level services without relying on Georgia tax dollars. The first bill, House Bill 1200, would allow school boards to solicit and accept donations for field trips and other school-related purposes. This legislation will help schools dealing with budget cuts to find new ways to fund field trips and other hands-on learning opportunities. 

On Friday two measures passed to help meet the financial needs of balancing the budget. One, which was done with approval of the state's hospitals through their associations, was a provider fee of 1.45 percent of net patient revenue, expected to provide $160 million of much needed annual revenue. The fees will sunset in three years (HB 307). The other bill to raises fees for specific services provided by the state and local governments to either meet the actual cost of providing the service to the recipient, or adjusting fees based upon inflation (HB 1055). As Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) noted, either fees need to be adjusted to pay for costs of providing the service, or we are in defacto support of subsidizing certain services over others.